Background Location Limits

In an effort to reduce power consumption, Android 8.0 (API level 26) limits
how frequently background apps can retrieve the user's current location. Apps can
receive location updates only a few times each hour.

Note: These limitations apply to all apps used on devices
running Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher, regardless of an app's
target SDK version.

This location retrieval behavior is particularly
important to keep in mind if your app relies on real-time alerts or motion
detection while running in the background.

The system distinguishes between foreground and background apps. An app is
considered to be in the foreground if any of the following is true:

It has a visible activity, whether the activity is started or paused.

It has a foreground service.

Another foreground app is connected to the app, either by binding to one of
its services or by making use of one of its content providers. For example,
if a foreground app binds to any of the following components within another
app, that other app is considered to be in the foreground:

If none of those conditions is true, the app is considered to be in the
background.

Foreground app behavior is preserved

If an app is in the foreground on a device running Android 8.0 (API level 26),
the location update behavior is the same as on Android 7.1.1 (API level
25) and lower.

Warning: If your app retrieves near real-time location
updates over a long period of time, the device's battery life becomes
significantly shorter.

Tuning your app's location behavior

Consider whether your app's use cases for running in the background cannot
succeed at all if your app receives infrequent location updates. If this is the
case, you can retrieve location updates more frequently by performing one of the
following actions:

Use elements of the Geofencing API, such as the
GeofencingApi
interface, which are optimized for minimizing power use.

Use a passive location listener, which may receive faster location updates
if there are foreground apps requesting location updates at a faster rate.

Note: If your app needs access to location history that
contains time-frequent updates, use the batched version of the Fused Location
Provider API elements, such as the
FusedLocationProviderApi
interface. When your app is running in the background, this API receives the
user's location more frequently than the non-batched API. Keep in mind, however,
that your app still receives updates in batches only a few times each hour.

Affected APIs

The changes to location retrieval behavior in background apps affect the
following APIs:

If your app is running in the background, the location system service
computes a new location for your app only a few times each hour. This
is the case even when your app is requesting more frequent location
updates.

By using the
batched version of FLP, however, you have access to more
time-frequent location history after your app receives a batch update,
which also occurs only a few times each hour.

If your app is running in the foreground, there is no change in
location sampling rates compared to Android 7.1.1 (API level 25).

Geofencing

Background apps can receive geofencing transition events more
frequently than updates from the Fused Location Provider.

The average responsiveness for a geofencing event is every couple of
minutes or so.

Location updates are provided to background apps only a few times
each hour.

Note: If your app is running on a device with
Google Play services installed, it is highly recommended that you use
the Fused
Location Provider (FLP) instead.

Wi-Fi Manager

The startScan() method
performs a full scan for background apps only a few times each hour. If a
background app calls the method again soon afterward, the
WifiManager class provides cached results from the
previous scan.

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